These inexpensive Tuya Ambient Light Bars do the job, but a lack of brand recognition shakes confidence.
Tuya Ambient Light Bar review: Functional but not secure MSRP $50.00 Score Details “For such an inexpensive light, the Tuya Ambient Light Bar offers plenty of functions. A lack of brand recognition drags down confidence in security, however.” Pros Cons The smart lighting landscape tends to be dominated by the big players like Hue and Nanoleaf, but the function they deliver often doesn’t justify the premium they demand.
Once the app was installed, initiating the Bluetooth pairing was straightforward using the toggle button built directly into the power cable. After punching in my Wi-Fi login information , I was greeted with an unexpected wealth of functions. Light quality All of that aside, I was actually quite pleased with the light quality of the Ambient Light Bars. Transitions were smooth, the light was even and diffuse, and the app was responsive, with loads of control. It’s possible to build light recipes with a range of animation styles, but there are no home screen widgets, unfortunately. The lights use RGBIC, so they have fine independent control of 15 sections in each unit.
Is there a better alternative? The Philips Hue Play bars are about three times the price, but are designed to support display sync, and have added brand confidence. Govee Smart Light Bars also have feature parity, are only $15 more, and instill a fair bit more confidence.